


Hit the Floor

by Sister_Grimm



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Dance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hartley that is not how you flirt, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, alternative universe - no powers, implied past sexual abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-08-16 05:07:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8088463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sister_Grimm/pseuds/Sister_Grimm
Summary: I'm too scared to move, too scared to lose. 
  
  Tell me what I am supposed to do.
  
  I'm too close to see you, but too far to touch
  
  And too many times I've not done enough.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah the Dance AU metastasized. Shocking.

Axel grins, he has one headphone in and he's mentally replaying the choreography for his intermediate class this evening as he walks into the Rogues studio. Shawna is at the front desk, "Axel! Did you hear Len hired a new ballet teacher?"

"Bet Lisa was unimpressed.", he laughs, pausing his music.

"Even Lisa said he nailed the interview."

"Well, well then.", he grins and he glances up at the clock. "Sorry, S. Gotta get changed."

She nods.

***

The intermediate class is mostly teenagers, 13 to 18 mostly. So that allows him to make some more interesting music choices. He's doing Machine Gun Kelly for his own performance and he's getting the kids to do a Disturbed remix because he can. Len had laughed but shrugged and said, "Knock yourself out."

He grabs a sip of water and dabs at his forehead with the hem of his shirt and he's talking to one of his students, a cute redhead with a Mohawk and muscles Axel would really like to lick (since M was quick to assure him he was legal when they first met), when Len knocks on the open door. "Walker."

"Yo, boss."

"Meet our new teacher, Hartley Rathaway."

Axel grins. Hartley is cute, slicked back hair and glasses, in jeans and t-shirt with a black gym bag tossed over his shoulder.

"Hey there.", he says with a flirtatious salute.

"Hartley will be picking up the intermediate and advanced ballet classes."

Axel nods, "Welcome to the crazy train, Hartley."

Hartley nods quietly.

"Hartley, this is Axel Walker. He teaches hip hop and break dancing."

Hartley sizes him up and Axel winks at him before turning back to his conversation with M. "So, the show on Friday?"

"Yeah, I think I can even convince Andrew to join us."

"Is your boyfriend worried I'll seduce you if he doesn't come with us?"

"Something like that.", M mutters, running his fingers through his hair.

Axel laughs. "Good to know."

Hartley is still standing in the door, watching them and as Axel leaves to change he brushes past him and smirks, "See something you like?"

Hartley rolls his eyes.

***

He sees Hartley again on Wednesday because that's when his intermediate break dancing class shares a time slot with Hartley's advanced ballet class. He's in between classes, chatting with Mick at the reception desk when he sees Hartley sitting in the waiting area.

"C'm over here, man.", Axel calls with a smile.

Hartley raises an eyebrow and tugs his headphone out, "Are you talking to me?"

"Yeah, it's your first day, come hang out with us.", Axel grins.

Hartley blinks, "Uh, ok?"

"So Hartley, how long have you been dancing?"

"Professionally since I was 13. I trained with the American Ballet Theatre. And then moved here to work for the Missouri Ballet out of Central City."

"Fancy.", Axel cracks dryly.

"And you?", Hartley's eyes are focused on Axel.

"Uh, started when I was 14, took lessons when I could afford it, mostly I'm self taught."

"Of course you are.", Hartley mutters, looking Axel over.

Axel flips him off and turns back to Mick.

***

M's apartment is split with a couple of other students and has a bizarre amount of vintage circus posters. But it's him and M and two of M's roommate and they're pre drinking the Black Canary show.

Axel is sprawled out on M's couch with a beer in his hand, "I thought your boyfriend was coming."

"Work.", M grumbles as he grabs another beer.

"Well at least you have my winning personality.", Axel teased.

"That's one word for it."

Axel laughs.

***

The show is fanfuckingtastic. Laurel Lance can scream like no one else in punk these days and Axel ends up making out with M's roommate with the great ass.

He and M spend most of the night in the mosh pit. Axel is going to have bruises after this. It is going to be so fucking worth it.

***

Axel gets home at 3am. And almost immediately falls into bed.

***

He's still hungover when he rolls into the studio the next morning.

Hartley raises an eyebrow, "Rode hard, Axel?" But he doesn't look top form either. 

"Something like that.", Axel grins.

"How was the concert?"

Axel blinks, "How did you know that?"

"I was there."

Axel brightens instantly, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm a big fan."

"You. A fan of punk.", Axel can't hide the enthusiasm in his voice.

"Yes."

"Really."

"Yes!", Hartley sounds so done with him.

"What else do you like?"

"I'm a Mucus Membrane fan. And I'm thinking I'll get the kids doing Imaginaerum for the showcase."

"Nightwish, eh?

Hartley nods.

"I like you.", Axel grins.

And he swears to God, Hartley blushes.

***

He's in one of the small rooms in the studio after all the classes are over, half screwing around, half working on his own performance. So he's throwing in flips and jumps, stuff he'd learned from getting in fights and climbing all over the city. 

And the song ends and he hears slow clapping. He turns, killing the music and finds himself looking at Hartley, who is obviously staring.

"Impressed?", he teases.

Hartley rolls his eyes, "If you like that kind of thing."

Axel flips him off and starts stretching. But Hartley doesn't close the door or walk away. Axel laughs, "You sure you weren't impressed?"

"By what, a cheap trick with smooth moves?"

Axel laughs, "Apparently."

Hartley rolls his eyes again, "In your dreams."

"You're the one staring."

Hartley blushes, "Sorry, Axel, you're really not my type."

"Let me guess, your type is just as pretentious as you are."

Hartley's eyes darken, "You have no idea what you're talking about."

And with that, Hartley turns and stalks away.

Weird.

***

The studio is in slightly sketchy part of town but it's not that far from Axel's little studio apartment.

So he tends to cut it close with arriving to work on time. He usually gets there about 5 minutes before Len opens up.

It's just him and Len and Lisa and Shawna chatting before the first round of classes begin. 

It's mostly kid's classes at this time of day and Axel has to field a few concerned parents who look at him and suddenly question if they want to leave their kids with him for an hour. He's pretty used to it though.

He's leaning over the receptionist table talking to Shawna when she lowers her voice and says, "William's dad is staring at you again."

Axel laughs.

And turns around, "It's good to see you again Mr. Queen."

And Mr. "Call me Oliver" Queen at least as the decency to look sheepish at getting busted. William smiles at him, "Hi!"

"Hey William, looking forward to class?"

The kid nods.

He's not sure why William comes here, of all places. Mr. Queen wears clothes that probably cost more than he makes in a day, high quality, tailored, gorgeous clothes.

***

He's let out the class and headed to the front desk again when he notices that Mr. Queen is still there.

"Axel, right?", Mr. Queen.

"Yeah."

"I'm not in town that often but next time I'm here, do you want to grab drinks?"

Mr. Queen is good looking, not necessarily Axel's usual type but good looking none the less.

And Axel pauses, "Sure."

Mr. Queen nods and hands him his phone to plug in his number and he hears someone clear their throat in the background.

"Oliver."

"Hartley?"

Hartley nods, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, you too." And he glances over to Axel, "I'll call you."

Axel smiles flirtatiously at him, "Of course."

When Mr. Queen leaves, Hartley looks at him, "Don't do it."

"What does it matter to you?"

"Just don't, ok?"

"Whatever you say.", Axel says rolling his eyes.

"Well I guess that explains why you're so popular.", Hartley snaps, lip curling in.. disgust?

Axel glares but he will not swear in front of the kids.

"Jealous, Hartley?", Axel teases back, but there is no easiness in his voice.

"Why would I be? You're a cheap trick with no class, anyone could have you."

What a fucking asshole. 

***

He's helping Mick lock up for night when he hears someone call his name.

And he turns, "Dad?"

James Jesse is leaning against the wall, "Axel."

"Dad. When did you get out?"

"Yesterday."

Axel tenses, "Why are you here?"

"I was looking for you.", Jesse grins, slurring slightly.

"Why?", Axel asks tersely.

"Don't have anywhere to stay.", Jesse explains cheerily, "So I thought I could stay with you."

Axel tenses, "I um..." And he can feel his resolve to keep James Jesse out of his life crumbling.

"You need to leave.", Mick hisses.

Jesse blinks, "Found a friend, Axel?"

Axel cringes and manages to stutter out, "He's...he's right."

"Or would it be his couch?", Jesse inquires with the casual cruelty that all too often accompanied Jesse dropping back in to his life, and Jesse's flicker over to Mick, who steps in closer to Axel.

"You heard the kid. You need to leave.", Mick spits and Jesse laughs.

"I suppose I could spend the night in the shelter. I'll see you around, Axel."

Axel's hands are shaking a bit as he waves to Mick and says, "See you tomorrow."

"Axel, are you ok?"

He nods, "Yeah, I'm fine, Mick."

Mick doesn't believe him even a little bit.

***

They've assembled after the studio closes for the day at Rips down the street.

They're all gathered around a large table, Mark and Shawna and Lisa and Len and Mick and even Hartley. They're a few beers into the night and it's pub trivia night.

Shawna grins as she raises her beer, "To Hartley, for surviving his first month."

Axel grins as he joins in the toast with a smile.

Hartley rolls his eyes, "You guys really aren't that bad."

"Oh Hartley, that almost sounded like something positive.", he teases.

Hartley looks at him and smiles, a real smile for like, the first time and Axel wants to see him smile like that all the time.

And they listen to Rip reading off the trivia. 

"Vodka, Galliano and orange juice make what classic cocktail?"

Axel laughs and grabs the paper from Hartley and scrawls, "Harvey Wallbanger."

Hartley raises an eyebrow. 

"My first job was in a bar."

"How old were you?"

Axel shrugs, "16?"

"Of course."

"We weren't all born with silver spoons, Rathaway.", Axel snaps back.

"What liqueur bearing the letter D.O.M on the bottle label was developed at Fecamp, France in the 16th century?"

Axel grins, "Benedictine. DOM stands for Deo Optimo Maximo."

And Hartley interrupts him, "To God, most good, most great."

"Yeah, that."

And again Hartley looks impressed with him.

"Dropped out because I had better things to do, not because I was an idiot."

"You dropped out? ...Of course you did.", Hartley says, just sounding weary.

***

Between him and Hartley, they kick ass at pub trivia and he offers to walk Hartley home.

It's not hard to tell that Hartley has like zero street smarts and he's been drinking, so Hartley may be a total prick but he doesn't really want the guy to get beat up.

It's about a half hour walk, and it'll probably take Axel at least 40 minutes to get home from Hartley's place but it's nice out. Early fall and it's still warm out even though it's like 1 am.

"So if you're so fancy and talented, why are you working with us?"

Hartley takes a sharp intake of breath, "I had a falling out with my last boss."

Man there is so much more to that story and Axel knows it.

But they stop in front of the small apartment building before Axel can ask for details and Axel nods, "We're here."

"We are.", Hartley acknowledges.

And they look at each other awkwardly for a couple of seconds before Hartley steps forward and kisses him, kisses him like he fucking means it.

Axel is suddenly struck with a memory from a week ago. _"You're a cheap trick. Anyone could have you."_

_"Anyone could have you."_

And he pulls back, tries to force his heart to calm down and he says, "Fuck you, Hartley."

"Axel?", Hartley says, sounding confused and moving forward, maybe to kiss him again.

"Fuck you." And Axel takes a step back. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Hartley just nods mutely and Axel fucking flees.

Stops at a gas station and buys a lighter.

***

He sits on the bed, fiddling with the neon blue lighter and he traces the lighter down his arm, through the web of tattoos that cover ten years of stuff like this. But he finds a spot near his wrist and flicks open the flame and holds it there until it hurts.

Fuck you Hartley Rathaway.

***

The next morning Mr. Queen approaches him again, "When do you get off?"

"7."

"Would you like grab dinner and drinks at my hotel, my treat?"

Axel pauses, considers and sees Hartley come in and stop when he sees them. "Yeah. Sounds good."

He knows Mr. Queen isn't in a relationship with William's mom. They never come to the studio together and Shawna put her foot in her mouth on the subject. He doesn't know if Mr. Queen is seeing anyone else but as long as it's not serious Axel doesn't care too much.

Hartley elbows past him as though Axel isn't even there.

But he puts Hartley out of his head as he runs the beginner class through their steps. He'd had a hard time find music for the class but he thinks he got something and corralling the little kids is distracting enough that he isn't really thinking about how good that kiss felt.

Hartley's a prick anyway, he reminds himself.

***

Apparently Oliver is staying at the Mandarin Oriental Central. Which has rooms that also cost more than Axel makes in the average day.

Axel suddenly feels like a rent boy. Tattooed and punked up in a place he so obviously doesn't belong.

He can feel the eyes of everyone in the hotel restaurant turning to stare at him so he holds his head up and smirks slightly. Soaks in the attention until his eyes fall on Oliver who nods in acknowledgement.

"You don't stay with Ms. Clayton?", Axel says in surprise. "Shit, I'm sorry that was completely inappropriate."

"No, Samantha prefers me to stay somewhere else. I do have friends in town but I like my space."

Axel gets that. It's part of the reason he has his own tiny studio even if sharing would be more comfortable and possibly cheaper.

"So how long have you been dancing?", Oliver asks.

"Little over ten years. The Boys and Girls club in my neighbourhood had classes."

Oliver nods. And they end up talking about music and books and movies and Oliver is certainly charming.

"I like your tattoos.", Oliver muses.

Axel grins, "Thanks. I think you're the only parent who does."

But probably not the only parent who wants to sleep with him, if Axel could hazard a guess.

"Eh, fuck 'em. They suit you."

Axel smiles, "What about you, got any?"

"Yeah."

"Is this a wait and see thing?"

"If you want it to be.", Oliver fires back flirtatiously.

Axel laughs and takes another sip of his beer.

The food is almost too good to be true. The only time he'd been in a place like this was during one of Jesse's cons and this is a whole different type of atmosphere. The seats are all booths as through to protect the inhabitants' identities, there are people flirting at the bar and the lighting is low and dramatic.

He polishes off his fancy burger easily and Oliver, as promised, picks up the check.

"So.", Axel says with a flirtatious smile, "I believe you said something about tattoos?"

Oliver laughs, "I did."

***

Even the fucking elevators are nicer than his apartment. And Oliver pins his arms above his head and kisses him and Axel whimpers a little bit every time Oliver pulls away.

They end up in Oliver's hotel room which is again nicer than anywhere Axel's ever been in his life. Huge fluffy bed, wide screen tv, sleek and modern with metal art on the walls and ooh, mirrored ceilings. Oliver wasn't lying, there's a tattoo on his chest and Axel can see one on his back in the mirror on the wall. And Axel puts on a proper show, slow and purposeful. And then Oliver fucks his brains out.

***

Axel grins as the afterglow starts to wear off and he slips out of bed to get dressed. He picks the clothes off the floor and his shirt is still unbuttoned when Oliver comes over to join him and he hands him a small box. Axel raises an eyebrow. "Open it.", Oliver whispers in his ear.

Axel groans quietly at the sensation and opens the box. And he finds a fucking gorgeous bracelet, a big brass cuff with a jade D-ring attached to it.

And Axel gets it suddenly. "Look, Oliver, if I take this, I don't owe you shit and you definitely don't own me, got it?", he hisses.

Oliver nods, "Only what you want."

Axel is still kind of tense but he takes the bracelet out of the box and slips it on to his wrist before pressing his lips against Oliver's.

"I'll see you, then."

"At least let me call you a cab?"

Ok, it is pretty late. He nods.

***

He wears the bracelet to the studio because why the hell not. 

He's finishing up with his own practice, jumping around the studio, watching his own reflection in the mirror, critiquing his form and trying figure out what else to toss in. 

He can see Hartley standing in the door and Axel smirks, changes the music to something faster, hotter, way sexier. And Hartley is just keeps watching as Axel moves. He's aiming for something a little stripperesque and he can see the way Hartley is frozen in his spot.

Axel grins wickedly as the music stops.

"Hartley."

"Axel. Uh, wow."

"You are totally impressed."

Hartley laughs, "I am. You're really good."

Axel grins, "Damn straight, Hart."

"Where did you get that?", Hartley says in surprise, looking at the jewellery at Axel's wrist.

Axel pauses.

"Did Oliver give that you?"

"What's it to you?", Axel snarks back.

Hartley laughs again, but this time it's cruel, "I was wrong. You're not a cheap trick."

Axel tenses. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Just stay away from Oliver. He's bad news, ok."

"Look, my life is literally none of your business, ok?"

***

He's leaving the studio late, he'd stayed to work on his routine, promised Mick and Len he'd lock up after himself. 

He kills the lights and heads out the door.

"Axel!" And he turns in the direction of the shout.

Jesse is leaning near the door with a smile.

"Dad.", he says, surprised.

"Took a while to catch you without the big guy around. Boyfriend?" It sounds like an idle question but Jesse never asks idle questions.

"No.", Axel admits.

"Nice bracelet. Looks expensive."

Axel can't help but nod and Jesse approaches him slowly.

"You could sell that for a pretty penny, I bet.", Jesse muses casually.

Axel shrugs to try and deflect Jesse's interest. "What are you doing here, Dad."

"Just wanted to check in with you."

That's a lie, Jesse has never just wanted to check in with him.

Jesse smiles at him, calm and caring and he rests his hand on Axel's shoulder.

"I'm ok. Just keeping busy.", Axel mumbles.

"That's good you're keeping busy."

Axel nods mutely.

Jesse keeps his gaze focused on him and he cups Axel's cheek, "I miss you, son."

And Axel can't help but lean into the contact. He hasn't had someone touch him like this since Jesse went to jail, the easy intimacy and warmth. 

"Axel, hey!" And Axel nearly jumps a foot in the air and crashes back in to the wall of the studio.

Hartley is standing there, watching them.

"Axel, who's your little friend?"

"Hartley, my dad. Dad, Hartley.", Axel mutters hurriedly.

"What's going on here?", Hartley asks.

"Just catching up with my son.", Jesse said with a toothy grin.

Shit. Axel really doesn't want Hartley involved in his.

"He doesn't really look interested.", Hartley says flatly.

"Of course he is, my boy loves me.", Jesse says, turning to smile at Axel.

Axel just nods.

Hartley's expression is unreadable, "At the risk of sounding juvenile, I doubt even your mother loves you."

Axel freezes, what the hell is Hartley doing.

"You look a little too clever for your mom jokes.", Jesse muses.

"I am very clever. And you are clearly making Axel uncomfortable."

"If Axel is uncomfortable, he knows he can tell me." And Jesse flashes that same predatory grin in his direction.

Axel nods again. 

Hartley is now standing beside him, arguing with Jesse, when Jesse grabs his arm roughly and Hartley throws a punch.

It's not a good punch. But it does connect. And Jesse lets go of his arm.

"Leave. Don't come back.", Hartley hisses. 

Jesse stalks away with a wave and a call of "See you later, kiddo."

"Are you ok?", Hartley asks.

"I am fine.", Axel hisses, "What are you doing here?"

"Mick told me you were staying late. I wanted to apologize. Do you want to get beer or something?"

Hartley's been a total prick to him but a beer sounds really nice.

"Rips?", he suggests.

Hartley smiles, and looks relieved. "Rips sounds good."

***

"So uh, can I ask what that was about?", Hartley asks.

"My dad. He cares about me, he really does. Just he's never been in a good place to take care of me.", Axel says firmly.

Hartley looks skeptical but doesn't argue, "You ever lived with him?"

"After I got out of the system."

"System?", Hartley sounds adorably confused (and kind of dumb).

"Foster care?", Axel says with a laugh.

"Oh. That system." Hartley looks sheepish.

"Yeah. That system. Both my parents were on drugs when I was a kid. I got tossed from home to home for the next 15 years."

"Oh."

"What about you?"

Hartley sighs, "My parents disowned me when I came out."

"That's super fucked up.", Axel says sharply.

It's not that it's an unheard of story. Axel had a few foster families curse him out for daring to be obviously queer.

Hartley nods, "Yeah, it is."

And they keep talking and Hartley is much less of a dick and Axel can't help but relax a bit the longer they talk.

"How did you end up working for Len?"

Axel laughed, "Mark actually dragged me in. We met at another job I had. And he said I could do better and he gave me Len's card."

"Met at another job? That is incredibly vague.", Hartley teases.

"I was a stripper, is that what you wanted to hear?", Axel snaps.

Hartley winces, "I'm sorry. I was a total asshole to you."

"Yeah, you were. What about you?"

"Friend of a friend gave me his card."

"And you said I was vague.", Axel teases back.

"You know Barry Allen?"

"I know of him. He's a friend of Len's."

"We uh, used to work together."

***

He's met Oliver a few times since that first time. 

They're at a different hotel again and they have a routine. Dinner and drinks and then they fuck. Or in this case, they're on their way to Oliver's hotel room when Oliver hits the emergency stop button in the elevator.

"The hell?"

"Figured we could have a bit of fun.", Oliver muses.

And Axel smirks, "Of course." And he sinks to his knees and undoes Oliver's pants.

***

He's fiddling with his earrings, another gift from Oliver and screwing around the studio. Back flips and head spins and anything that flows together.

"You really like watching me.", Axel grins at Hartley.

"You leave the studio door open. You like being watched."

Axel grins, "You are smart."

"Show me.", Hartley says abruptly.

Axel feels himself brighten even more, if possible. "Ok!"

And he all but physically pulls Hartley into the room. He cues up the Black Canary EP on shuffle. 

"Nice.", Hartley says with sly smile.

"Of course."

He leads Hartley through some basic steps and Hartley takes to them with a surprising ease and Axel grins, takes it up a notch, moves in closer and Hartley grins. 

"Think you can keep up, Trickster boy?", he teases, stepping back and spinning. And the ballet steps against Laurel Lance's growl is a fucking work of art and it's a push and pull, moving together and stepping out.

And Axel can't ignore how close they are, the way they're moving together and God it's never felt like this. And he kisses Hartley.

"Door.", Hartley mutters.

"Oh, right." He closes and locks the door and then he's pulling Hartley in against him again. And those dance clothes don't leave that much to the imagination.

He slides his hands under Hartley's shirt and gives him enough of a shove to get his back against the wall.

Hartley's mouth is hot and Axel wants. 

"We should really not do this here.", Hartley laughs as he leans his forehead against Axel's.

And Axel laughs. "Ok. Point taken."

***

"Hey, Ax. You coming to Rips?", Lisa asks.

"Uh, no I uh, got a date." And he can't quite look Hartley in the eye.

He meets Oliver for the usual arrangement at yet another exceedingly expensive hotel.

This time Axel forgoes his usual beer in favour of a cocktail they light on fire and Oliver grins at his order and orders a cocktail for himself.

They talk about the upcoming student showcase and Oliver's life in Star City.

They finish off a couple of cocktails and then Oliver smiles that charming smile that he's sure makes all the underwear in Star City drop. "Want to head up?"

Axel pauses and then nods, "Yeah."

It's yet another modern and sterile bachelor pad and Oliver presses him against the door and kisses him, slowly, like he's drinking him in.

Axel groans and can't help but think of Hartley dragging his teeth over the tattoo on his neck as Oliver does the same. "This needs to come off."

Axel shudders as Oliver kisses down his chest as he slowly unbuttons the shirt.

And Oliver finishes unbuttoning his shirt and Axel pauses. "Stop." And for the first time he finds himself in a situation where he's wondering if Oliver is going to listen.

Oliver pauses but doesn't move his hands. And Axel glares at him, "I said stop."

And Oliver nods, pulling his hands away as Axel begins buttoning up his shirt again.

Oliver catches his wrist and hisses, "You owe me."

"Listen here, fuckboy.", Axel snarls, yanking his arm away, "I don't owe you shit."

Oliver takes a step back in shock and Axel throws open the door and storms out and finishes buttoning his shirt in the elevator.

***

"Axel!", Lisa says in surprise.

"I thought you had a date.", Hartley says and his voice is that kind of fake neutral he affects when he's trying to hide his emotions.

"It fell through. He was a douche. Won't be seeing him again."

Hartley nods but a small smile flickers over his lips.

***

They're leaving a bar a few weeks after Axel ends it with Oliver, laughing and kissing when he hears something.

"Hartley?" and Hartley's whole body tenses.

"Harrison."

Oh. Harrison Wells. Hartley's ex boss and more importantly, Hartley's ex boyfriend. 

"I'd been wondering where you'd been hiding yourself."

And Harrison's eyes fall dismissively on Axel, "I see the company you keep has certainly suffered." Hartley flinches away from him.

"Harrison, my coworker, Axel Walker."

"Co worker," Harrison scoffs, "From where, Secrets?"

And Axel is familiar with Secrets, a strip club in the inner city. And yeah, worked there for a while. But he hates the look on Hartley's face, ghost white, eyes wide and hands shaking.

"Fuck you.", Axel hisses.

"I suspect that comes with a price tag." And Axel decks him. It's much better punch than Hartley threw at Jesse, sends Harrison spiralling back until he tumbles to the ground.

"Let's get out of here, Hartley."

"Axel, what the hell was that?"

"Me punching your douchebag ex?"

"Why?"

"Because he's a douchebag and a fucking creep."

And Hartley kisses him, "Thank you."

***

They're at Axel's apartment. Axel's on his knees, Hartley's palm pressing him down and his other hand in Axel's hair.

"Wish you could see yourself. So fucking beautiful. Can't believe you're all mine."

Axel tenses. Remembers.

"My boy, you grew up so well."

"You're my son, of course I'll take care of you."

"Good boy, you listen so well."

"You're my son so do as I say."

And Hartley kisses the back of his neck, "You like that, Axel? Like being mine?"

And he can't find the words to protest as he waits for Hartley to finish.

***

He lies and says he has to meet some other friends at the next bar night. Goes to the nearest gay bar and picks up the first hot guy he sees, a tattooed red head with a slight Australian accent, and lets him blow him in the bathroom.

Hartley doesn't fucking own him.

***

"I let some guy blow me in the bathroom at Utopia.", he drops casually in the afterglow.

Hartley yanks away from him, "What?"

"Just wanted you to know. I don't fucking belong to you or anyone else."

Hartley's gone from looking pissed to just confused. "Axel?"

"I'm not yours.", Axel reaffirms.

Hartley blinks slowly, "Ok, if this is your way of saying you want an open relationship, I would have liked you to mention it instead of slutting it up behind my back."

"It's my way of saying I'm not yours and you say that again, I'll fuck someone else."

Hartley just stares at him, "Oh."

And Hartley mostly looks shaken and confused.

***

They're at Rips again when Axel notices a table near by that keeps staring at them and he thinks he recognizes Barry Allen, maybe at the table.

And Hartley has his careful neutral expression every time he looks in their direction.

"Who are they?"

"Used to work with them."

And Hartley's in the washroom when one of them gets up and walks over to him, "You Hartley's new boyfriend?"

"Guess so.", he mutters. He and Hartley haven't really talked about their relationship since Axel's freak out last month.

"Be careful, he's an asshole and a cheat."

"Who are you and why should I care?", Axel asks.

"Cisco. Hartley's ex. The guy he was dating when he fucked his boss."

Oh, Axel hadn't known that part of the story.

"Well since you're his ex, I don't really think you have business coming over here and lecturing me, asshole."

"Just looking out for you."

"Well I don't need you or anyone else looking out for me."

No one who's said they're looking out for him has ever done anything good for him.

***

"Mr. Queen came to talk to me.", Len says calmly, "Said your past work experience made you unfit to teach."

Axel feels all the blood rush from his face. That son of a bitch.

"I told him I hire staff on talent not reputation. But he didn't seem happy."

"Let me handle it ok?", Hartley says from where he's standing near the desk.

Axel raises an eyebrow, "What can you do?"

"I knew the Queens before my parents disowned me. Maybe I can get Oliver to fuck off."

"Why would you do that?"

"You're my boyfriend.", Hartley snaps. And then stops, "Uh, shit...Axel, I'm ..."

"Boyfriends, eh?", Axel turns the words around with a smile. "I think I can do boyfriends."

Hartley smiles, relieved.

***

He dials the number when Hartley isn't there.

"Oliver Queen."

"What do I have to do to get you to back off?"

"Just come back."

He weighs how much he trusts Len versus how much he trusts Oliver.

"Yeah, that is so never gonna happen, asshole."

***

It takes a couple of weeks before Axel realizes that even though William is still coming, he hasn't seen Oliver in months and Len hasn't mentioned anything else.

So he brings it up after dinner. "What did you do?"

Hartley laughs, "I'm close with Oliver's little sister. The words "abuse of power", "blackmail" and "extremely dubious consent" may have been used."

"Why?"

"Because I love you, you idiot."

Oh.

Axel giggles, "I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me: notsolittlegirlevenmorelost.tumblr.com


End file.
